Last season, the Angels lost both John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar to spring injuries. History is repeating as Ervin Santana goes down with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his elbow. He'll miss the start of the season. His improvement on the road last year was a big reason the Angels were able to tolerate the injuries to their big two starters and make the playoffs. Right now, they don't think Santana will miss much of the regular season, but we all know how minor elbow injuries can quickly turn into major ones. The Angels don't quite have the depth they did last year:

Santana's absence means that the battle for the fifth spot in the rotation among Dustin Moseley, Shane Loux and Nick Adenhart will now be a battle for the final two rotation spots behind John Lackey, Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver.

Weaver has been slowed this spring by shoulder tightness but is scheduled to make his exhibition debut on Tuesday.

Kelvim Escobar is far ahead of schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery, but the veteran right-hander is not expected back until May at the earliest.

A lengthy injury to Santana should make the division more interesting.